The benefits of Pilates are vast. Depending on your situation, Pilates can be valuable and can enhance your life, physically and mentally. The basic principles of Pilates help with the alignment of the spine and posture. It is a mind body form of exercise and so can be very meditative for some and a form of stress relief. It is commonly used or suggested by other practitioners such as physiotherapists and chiropractors as a compliment to or a form of rehabilitation. In general, it is great as a form of fitness training for those starting out as well as those experienced athletes as a form of cross training. Some of the more immediate benefits are….
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” ~Jim Rohn
Benefits of Pilates
If you have heard anything about Pilates, core is something you may associate with Pilates. What is your core? In Pilates it refers to your abdominals, pelvis, ribcage, back, mid and lower thoracic vertebrae. Many of our vital organs are enclosed in this region thus making it the core of life. Protecting these organs is to our benefit. We can’t walk around in a suit of armor but we can work on strengthening the muscles in this region. Hence, we strengthen our core. In addition to strengthening the abdominal muscles the back muscles, the erector spinae group, and the pelvic floor must also be engaged to fully strengthen the core. There are many fringe benefits to working our core muscles. Stronger back muscles mean reduced back pain, which affects 80% of adults at some point in their life. With increased abdominal and back strength you will be able to hold your body up more easily and as a result, experience improved posture. Some of the other benefits of Pilates are stress relief, relaxation, rejuvenation, a new challenge both mentally and physically, greater awareness of your body and how it moves and works, physical benefits include: increased coordination, flexibility, balance, muscle tone and muscle endurance. Here we focus on rejuvenation, reviving and relaxing the body. Once the body feels rejuvenated, revived and relaxed it will be in a position to improve physically and the desired results will appear.
Some of the many benefits of Pilates:
- Stress relief from emotional, professional, social and physical strains.
- Relax, Rejuvenate, Revive.
- Improved posture through exercises that target smaller muscles, stabilization of areas specific areas of the body, i.e. scapula, pelvis.
- Increased awareness of body and how it moves and performs.
- Physical benefits such as strength, power, balance, flexibility, local muscle endurance, strength endurance and coordination.
Certified Stott instructor. Experience with teching, instructing, owning a Pilates studio and meeting people and postures.